An approach to natural resource management that emphasizes learning through management. It provides a decision-making framework that maintains flexibility and incorporates new knowledge and experience over time.

Riparian? buffers flank waterways and include various plants and other organisms that improve soil and water quality/temperature. The buffer region acts as a transition zone between the aquatic to upland terrestrial environments. Human development in buffer areas is limited.

Downscaling is a climate modeling technique that transforms climate change information obtained from General Circulation Models? or Global Climate Models (GCMs) to much higher spatial resolution for improved understanding of local and regional scale climate changes.

The point at which there is an abrupt change in the structure, quality, or functioning of an ecosystem or where external changes produce large and persistent responses in an ecosystem. Can be any abrupt or nonlinear change to a species' population, productivity?, reproduction, or habitat. (Also: tipping point, ecosystem shift, and abrupt/nonlinear change).

El Niño? and La Niña (ENSO) cycles are long-term naturally recurring patterns in climate. ENSO affects global weather patterns and has important implications for temperature, precipitaiton, wind, storms, drought, and ice cover in the Northeast. The ENSO cycle alternates between the warm and cool phases irregularly every 2-7 years. During the El Niño phase of the Southern Oscillation pattern, the Equatorial Pacific experiences unusually warm ocean temperatures, while the La Niña phase is represented by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific. The exact effects of ENSO cycles on New England climate are still largely unresolved, thus interactions with climate change remain uncertain.

Evapotranspiration? is the sum of evaporation (transformation of water from liquid to gas or vapor) and transpiration (also known as guttation, the process by which moisture moves through plants and is released into the atmosphere as vapor). Collectively the process of evapotranspiration represents the movements and exchange of water among plants, land, waterbodies and the atmosphere.

An exotic species is an alien, or non-native, species that is not naturally present in a habitat. In contrast, an invasive species? is an exotic, non-native species whose presence is likely to cause harm to human health, the economy, and/or the environment. All invasive species are exotic, but not all exotic are invasive. Invasive species are not the same as novel occurrences of species that shift into a region as they respond to climate change by following optimal environmental conditions.

Fitness? in the biological sense is slightly different from our typical understanding of the word. Fitness refers to how well a specific genotype produces offspring in comparison with other genotypes. Fitness is a vital stepping stone in the process of natural selection.

Climate models, specifically General Circulation Models? or Global Climate Models (GCMs), are computer simulations that represent chemical and physical processes throughout the globe, including the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere (ice sheets), and across land surfaces. They are vital for studying climate.

Groundwater? is a source of fresh water that exists underground in the spaces in soil and cracks in rock. Groundwater is an important resource as drinking water as well as irrigation, industrial uses, and more. Groundwater also provides cold water inputs to streams, rivers, vernal pools, as well as other natural water bodies and helps maintain flow and temperature regimes.

Growing Degree Days are the number of degrees the average daily temperature exceeds a base temperature threshold, below which, an organism will remain dormant. GDDs are cumulative and used as a predictive indicator of phenology by horticulturists, gardeners, and farmers to estimate the number of days it will take for a plant or animal to bloom or be ready for harvest.

Headwater streams are key habitats consisting of small creeks, swales, and streams that are the starting point of rivers. Like wetlands, headwater streams do not have to be consistently wet to provide critical habitat.

An invasive species? is an exotic, non-native species whose presence is likely to cause harm to human health, the economy, and/or the environment. In contrast, an exotic species is an alien, or non-native, species that is not naturally present in a habitat. All invasive species are exotic, but not all exotic are invasive. Invasive species are not the same as novel occurrences of species that shift into a region as they respond to climate change by following optimal environmental conditions.

Jet streams are cold, skinny bands of very strong wind that exist at large temperature differences high in the atmosphere. The winds are most noticeable in the winter and flow from the west to the east.

El Niño? and La Niña (ENSO) cycles are long-term naturally recurring patterns in climate. ENSO affects global weather patterns and has important implications for temperature, precipitaiton, wind, storms, drought, and ice cover in the Northeast. The ENSO cycle alternates between the warm and cool phases irregularly every 2-7 years. The La Niña phase is represented by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific. During the El Niño phase of the Southern Oscillation pattern, the Equatorial Pacific experiences unusually warm ocean temperatures. The exact effects of ENSO cycles on New England climate are still largely unresolved, thus interactions with climate change remain uncertain.

(1) A land trust?, or conservation easement, limits the use of the land it protects through a legal pact between the government and a landowner. The goal of the agreement is to protect the land through conservation, but the landowner still has limited use and can sell the land. (2) Land trusts are also nonprofit organizations that acquire and conserve land.

Phenology? is the timing of cyclic and seasonal natural phenomen such as recurring life history events in plants and animals (e.g.migration, reproduction, emergence, birth and death). Phenology is influenced by seasonal and annual weather and climate cycles.

Productivity? from an ecological standpoint refers to the rate of growth of organisms in a habitat or ecosystem; it can be connected to human productivity due to its determining of how quickly we use the ecosystem's resources.

Riparian? areas, natural or re-established, exist on the edges of waterways such as rivers and streams and are made of a variety of different kinds of vegetation. These areas provide numerous benefits including reducing erosion and pollution as well as providing habitat.

Second-growth, or secondary, forests are created when a disturbance such as wildfire or logging destroys an old-growth forest.Second-growth forests grow into the previously forested area and thus are typically younger than their old-growth predecessor and can also lack large snags and a many-layered canopy.

The capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide can be done naturally by trees or forests or deliberately by human technology. Sequestration describes the process of carbon dioxide absorption from the atmosphere and deposition as solid material.

Traditionally displayed in maps, topography? describes natural features of the landscape such as mountains and valleys as well as general elevation and shape of the land. Topographic maps can be used for several different users, from recreational to professional uses such as engineering or natural resources conservation.

Vernal pools are a form of ephemeral wetland that are seasonally filled with water. The pools are in sync with groundwater? levels and are unique and critical habitats that many wildlife species depend on for their early life history. Vernal pools are best known for supporting spring breeding salamander and frog populations.

A barrier or channel created at an angle across a road or trail in order to guide water flow away from the road and prevent erosion. Water bars are especially helpful for high volume or very fast-moving water.

Wetlands represent a diversity of unique ecosystems. Wetlands may be an area where water completely covers the soil; in other cases, a wetland area may only be partially wet or wet during certain seasons.

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